


The Other Brother

by old_and_new_friends



Series: Mako's Lovers [11]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Geology, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Minor Bolin/Wei, Pre-Relationship, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29676288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: When Bolin invites his new boyfriend and their twin to stay with them, Mako finds himself developing a slight crush on the other brother.
Relationships: Mako/Wing (Avatar)
Series: Mako's Lovers [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095230
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	The Other Brother

**Author's Note:**

> Not 100% sure about this one, but I like it well enough that I don't want to mess with it too much.

Mako blinked as he opened the door to his and Bolin's apartment only to find the Beifong twins on the other side of the door.

"Um," Mako said, looking out into the hallway in confusion. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mako," one said, pushing past him into the apartment. "Thanks for letting us crash here!"

Mako blinked and turned to the other twin who stood in the doorway. They looked between Mako and their counterpart in worry.

"You ah, did know we were coming right?" They asked. Their twin drew up short and turned back to face them from where he had already dropped his duffle bag.

"Bolin said you agreed to us staying," the one in the apartment said.

"Um," Mako repeated, racking his brain for when he agreed to let the Beifong twins crash at their place. The only person he had agreed to staying was Opal when Bolin asked if his favorite Beifong could spend a few weeks with them.

Mako squinted at the twins. "Bo," Mako yelled. "Did your favorite Beifong change when I wasn't looking?"

Bolin raced from his room with his hair sticking up in all directions. "Wei!" He called, wrapping up the twin in the apartment into a hug.

Mako turned to the other still in the doorway, apparently Wing, and gestured them in.

Wing hesitated before shutting the door behind him.

"I'm confused," Mako said. "I thought Opal was staying with us? You know your girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Bolin said, drawing out the word. "About that, Opal and I broke up, amicably! She didn't really want to do the long distance thing and wanted to focus on her airbending and well, after everything, we just decided it was for the best."

"So, Wei and Wing are now your favorite Beifongs?" Mako asked.

Wing snorted. "No, Wei is his favorite Beifong. I'm the tag along because mom won't let him come to the city by himself," Wing said.

Mako glanced between the three men before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay," Mako said, "whatever, they’re already here now. Might as well stay."

He walked into the kitchen to start making breakfast, hoping his morning would return to normal.

"So," Bolin called. "Wei is staying in my room, can Wing crash in yours?"

"I'm not sharing my bed with a stranger," Mako called back.

"I can take the couch," Wing said, blushing. "I'd rather not share either."

Mako tuned out the rest of the conversation as he kept cooking. He frowned down at the pan he was swirling around. It wasn't that Mako disliked Suyin Beifong's kids, it was just that all of them were a bit too much, even on their own. 

He wasn't sure what to do with them but hopefully Bolin would keep them occupied.

\---

Mako barely noticed the Beifong twins were there. Other than meals, and mornings when Wing was still asleep and softly snoring as Mako left out, it was almost like they weren't even there.

Which was why it startled him when he got home early to discover Wing exiting the bathroom.

Wing clearly wasn't expecting him, as the other man had a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else on. Water dropped down from his hair to his chest and Mako tore his eyes away and up to Wing's own.

"You're here early," Wing said. A soft blush appeared on his cheeks.

"You're here," Mako said, still slightly thrown.

Wing tilted his head. "Yeah, I'm always here?" He said.

Now Mako was confused. "What do you mean? Don't you go with Bolin and Wei when they leave out?" Mako asked.

"Why would I go on my brother's dates as a third wheel?" Wing asked, slowly moving over to the sofa and grabbing his clothes.

"Oh, yeah, I suppose that wouldn't be fun," Mako said, pausing as he realized what Wing was saying. "So what, you've been here the whole time?"

"Pretty much," Wing said, holding his clothes close to his body.

Mako stared at him slightly. "But, there's a whole city to see?" Mako asked.

Wing shrugged. "Don't want to go by myself," he replied.

Mako pursed his lips. "Well, I'm off tomorrow," he offered before he could think too much. "We can go wherever."

Wing glanced at him through wet bangs. "Really?" Wing said. There was a hesitant excitement in his voice that Mako didn't want to disappoint. 

He nodded, and didn't take back his offer even as Wing started listing off hiking trails in the mountains just outside the city. Of course, he'd pick the one side of the city Mako didn't know.

Still, his enthusiasm was contagious and Mako listened intently as Wing started rambling about the marble that could be found in the mountain chain. Apparently the mountains around Republic City were very rich in the resource.

They were so lost in their conversation, rather Wing's lecture, that they didn't even notice their brother's coming home.

"Is that a new fashion statement, Wing?" Wei asked, as he burst out laughing.

Wing flushed, as he seemed to remember he was only wearing a towel. The flush traveled down his neck and chest, causing Mako to flush himself.

Wing coughed and stood up with his clothes before retreating to the bathroom again.

It was only as Wing stood that Mako realized how close they had gotten. He and Wing had been sitting facing one another on the couch, with their knees pressed together. Wing had been leaning close to him, as he spoke, likely trying to get closer to Mako's natural heat.

Mako didn't imagine sitting in nothing but a towel for, he glanced at the clock, two hours would have been anything but brutally cold.

When Wing returned he was back to being quiet. Mako had read somewhere once that when it came to twins there was usually a more dominant one. He supposed now that he was actually watching them, when it came to the Beifong twins that was Wei.

Wing didn't really talk much around Bolin and Wei. Mako found it to be a shame as they had been having fun just before.

\---

The next morning Mako woke up later than usual, with the sunrise rather than before it. He was still the first awake and tried not to wake Wing up as he made breakfast.

"You don't have to be quiet."

Mako jumped slightly before turning to find Wing in the archway leading to the kitchen. He had a fluffy blanket wrapped around him and his hair was sticking up in odd directions.

"Didn't mean to wake you," Mako said, staring intently down at the stove rather than at the other man. 

Wing shrugged. "You usually do," Wing said, "I just didn't want you to feel bad about it, so I faked sleep."

"Oh, sorry," Mako said. He felt slightly bad. Had Wing told him sooner, he would have tried to quiet down.

"Don't be," Wing said. "I'm a light sleeper and an early riser anyway. I only got up because I figured after breakfast we could go ahead out to the mountains."

"Sure," Mako said. He would have rather started towards mid-morning but he could tell Wing was excited. Leave it to the earthbender to get overjoyed at rocks.

The two ate in silence. Mako wasn't sure what to say but for once the person with him didn't seem to care.

Mako found himself watching the other man as they ate. Wing had an interesting face. Mako had always thought the twins looked like their father Bataar Sr. but Wing's chin was sharp like Suyin and Lin's. Mako continued studying Wing's face until his eyes locked on a murky green and he suddenly realized he was being watched back.

Mako's face heated as he cleared his throat and picked up their bowls. "Meet you back here in five," Mako said. "Let me get dressed."

He didn't wait for an answer and instead ducked back into his room. He took a deep breath to re-center himself, before pulling on something slightly warmer. If they were hiking in the mountains it would be cold, and Mako didn’t really want to waste his energy using firebending to not freeze.

“Ready?” Wing asked, pulling his shirt on over his head, as he left the bathroom. 

Mako swallowed harshly, though why he didn’t know. Wing had an undershirt on. It wasn’t like he saw anything. “Yeah, let’s go,” Mako said.

Wing led them from the apartment towards the train station. There was a train that stopped at the very edge of the city and from there taxi services would take you to the base of the mountains.

Mako thought the rides would be quiet, but Wing seemed to take the time to talk more about different types of rocks.

“Why do you know so much about stones?” Mako finally asked. “I mean, it seems fitting for an earthbender but you’re the only one I know who bothers.”

Wing laughed. “It’s not because I’m an earthbender,” he said. “Well, maybe a bit, but I just like rocks. A lot of earthbenders just bend rocks but I want to know them and how they form and where. To be honest, I kind of lied. I’ve been leaving the apartment to tour the two colleges in the city. I’m still not sure if I want to bother transferring out here. I’m studying geology in Zaofu but if Wei moves out here mom’s going to want me to come with. If studying rocks makes my bending better it’s a bonus but that’s not why I want to do it.”

Mako looked over at Wing in interest. “Then why do you want to do it?” Mako asked.

“It’s useful in its own right,” Wing said, shrugging. “I want to help rebuild what Kuvira destroyed, but a big issue with that is some of the material of the older buildings are hard to identify to fix them. The Earth Kingdom is built with a lot of rock, and without people who know what they are looking for, no one will know what rock they need to fix it. Ba Sing Se is really struggling as they don’t even know what material went into their walls. Apparently, during the hundred year war, when General Iroh, ah, the older one, broke through the wall, they patched it with the wrong material and it’s crumbling now, with the strain of the new damage.”

Mako nodded. He didn’t really understand what Wing was saying in full, but his passion was clear. The excited and wide-eyed expression was also cute.

Mako froze slightly at the thought and switched his gaze to stare out the window. They fell silent at that, until they reached the base of the mountain.

Mako hadn’t ever really been hiking before and found himself struggling slightly as they moved up. Wing didn’t seem to notice, practically bouncing up the mountain. If he didn’t seem so excited, Mako might be more annoyed about it.

“Whoa,” Wing said, rushing over to a look out point.

Mako sighed, but followed behind him, stalling as he took in the view that had caught Wing’s attention. It wasn’t the first time Mako had seen the city from up high, but it was certainly more peaceful than the last.

He could still see some scars on the city below, where the construction projects of the city hadn’t quite reached.

“It looks so much smaller up here,” Wing said, staring down at the city.

Mako hummed in agreement. He didn’t know what possessed him, but being able to see the full city from up here, he started pointing out the various areas. “That’s the cove,” Mako said, pointing to a small district not far from the pro-bending arena. “There’s a shop there that sells the best noodles. Then you have Dragon Flats, not too far away. My friends and I got arrested there trying to stop Tarrlok from taking over the city. That weird building that was condemned, used to be Varrick’s film studio.”

Mako felt something press against his side and looked down. Wing had moved till he was slightly leaned back against Mako’s chest. Mako’s words stuttered to a stop.

Wing looked over his shoulder in question and seemed just as lost as Mako by how close they were.

The two stood, sharing breath before Wing jolted out of it.

He coughed slightly. “Do you see the two different colors of the City Hall?” he said, pointing at the building. “They used the wrong marble to fix it. You can really tell with the light from up here.”

Mako nodded absently as he watched Wing.

The two continued with their walk, slightly more subdued than before, and hyper aware of when they accidentally brushed against each other.

They had reached as high as they could safely go, Wing reaching down to press his hand against the marble that stuck out from the mountain. He freed a small piece and stuck it in his pocket, making a shushing noise at Mako.

Mako smiled at the small bit of thievery. Technically it was illegal to take resources or plants from the mountainside, but Mako wasn’t about to tell.

The other shivered slightly as he stood. He sniffed a bit before turning back to Mako. “We should probably head back,” he said. “It’s getting cold.”

“Yeah,” Mako said, “we can get lunch when we get back to the city.”

“Sounds nice,” Wing said, trying to rub heat into his arms.

Mako bit his lip as his stomach rolled. He wanted to warm the other man up, but their recent interactions had him feeling off kilter.

Wing sniffed again and Mako slid his jacket off.

“Here,” he said, “an extra layer.”

“Won’t you be cold?” Wing asked, taking the jacket anyway.

“Firebender,” Mako said. “I can keep warm that way. It’s just easier to bundle up as well.”

Mako tried to push down the feeling that rose as he watched Wing pull on his coat. He didn’t want to name it.

With Mako actually bothering to put off heat for himself, Wing started slowly gravitating closer. It was something Mako was used to as a firebender. When it was cold, and they were trying to stay warm themselves, firebenders could attract all sorts of things from baby animals to, apparently, attractive earthbenders.

Mako gave up when Wing bumped into his side the fifth time, and wrapped his arm around the other’s shoulder.

Wing looked up at him in question.

“You’re still cold,” was all Mako said, even as his heartbeat picked up. He told himself it was only his imagination that Wing shifted closer.

\---

They made it back to the apartment after a brief stop to pick up lunch. They decided on takeout, so that Bolin and Wei would have something to eat too, if they were still home.

Wing stopped him outside the door.

“I don’t know if our brothers are home or not,” Wing said, “so, I’m going to say this here. I’ve been subtly crushing for a while now, but getting to know you today, I’m really starting to like you. Would you maybe, want to go on a date next time?”

Mako blamed the steam rising from the takeout food for how heated his face was. “Yeah,” Mako said, “I’d like that.”

He pushed open the door to the apartment, to Bolin’s call of, “Is that Narook’s?”

**Author's Note:**

> Next story is Mako/Desna on the 3rd of March.


End file.
